Flexible hours, sick pay and meals, British workers get a better deal
© Reuters. Jen Eaton, Regional Operations Manager for Loungers bar and restaurant chain sits for a portrait during an interview with Reuters at Alcampo Lounge all-day bar restaurant in Brighton, Britain, August 15, 2023. REUTERS/Toby Melville
Nick Collins, CEO of Loungers which employs Eaton, Chapman and Hughes-Davies among 8,000 staff in restaurants and bars across Britain, said expectations of employees had risen.Conversations with 18 company bosses, HR managers, a union, economists, recruitment groups and workers suggest big employers in hospitality, retail, logistics and security are all offering more flexibility over the hours people work, better financial support for sick leave or private healthcare and other perks.
The executive who sits on other company boards said he expected the use of automation and the hunt for efficiencies to grow as employment costs rise. He asked not to be named because he was not authorised to discuss the matter publicly. Regular pay, excluding bonuses, was 7.8% higher in the three months to July than a year earlier - the joint-fastest growth since comparable records began in 2001.
"There's been a trend in hospitality to work staff hard, to not treat them very well, because there was always another person that would come in," said head chef Chris Lloyd-Rogers. "The pandemic certainly accelerated our focus on making flexibility work for our store managers," HR director Sarah Findlater said.
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